Church and Monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua is of the most important religious monuments in Pula. Its bell tower is visible from many parts of the city as it is the tallest building in the city. Church and Monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua is situated within walking distance from the Pula Amphitheater. This Roman Catholic complex was built between 1934 and 1943 by the famous architect Guido Latuni. All of resources and work hours were donated by the parishioners. New monastery was added in 1961 and in 2000 it was renovated.
On October 30, 1931, local newspapers "Corriere
istriano" reported: "The desire of so many citizens of Pula is
fulfilled, the solemn opening of the new temple of St. Anthony,
erected in a short period of two years thanks to the grate of the
citizens of Pula. , will remain a monument to the faith of our time
and the profound and lasting devotion of the Pope to the Holy Father
Antun. " This was an excellent contribution to the celebration of
the 700th anniversary of the death of St. Francis. Antun Padovans,
who celebrated that year.
The foundation stone of the new
church was blessed on October 4, 1929, on the feast of St. Francis,
and the solemn blessing of the finished building he performed at All
Saints on November 1, 1931. Fr. Tito Castagna, Provincial of the
Venetian Franciscan Province of St. Francis. He was also the
initiator of this construction of the new monastery of St. Antuna
and the first Franciscan who settled in Pula in 1920 after the
abolition of Franciscan monasteries in Pula and on the island of
Veruda in 1806 by Napoleon's authorities. At first, the friars
planned to build a monastery next to the church of Our Lady of Mercy
in Šijani, which was given to them by the Poreč-Pula diocese, but
soon realized that Šijana was a short distance away from a city that
counted 60,000 inhabitants and had only one parish. First, in 1925,
the friars established a children's orphanage in a former city
hospital (the old building to the right of the church) and
improvised the chapel of St. Antun Padovanskoga on the site of
today's church, and in 1929 started building the church.